


Rings

by the_deep_magic



Category: Bones (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-01-05
Updated: 2007-01-05
Packaged: 2017-10-17 20:22:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/180842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_deep_magic/pseuds/the_deep_magic
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A little post-Christmas Christmas fluff, but hopefully not of the utterly tooth-rotting variety. Spoilers: Teeniest reference to “The Man in the Fallout Shelter”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rings

  
“This is Booth.”

“Can you come down to the lab?”

“What, right now?”

“Yes.”

“It’s Christmas eve, Bones!”

“Oh… It’s the 24th already?”

“I’ll be there in twenty.”

&&&

Seeley Booth made his way through the Jeffersonian Museum mostly by instinct – he had to, as most of the lights were off. Save for Brennan’s office, of course, and he made a beeline to it like a moth to… well, not a flame, exactly. More like a bug zapper.

He found Bones at her desk, typing away on the computer. What he didn’t see, though, were bones. No skulls on the table, no phalanges on the desk, not even the usual array of lurid photographs. Booth stood in the doorway, hoping his partner would at least acknowledge his presence, but finally he spoke up.

“If you’re trying to seduce me, I’d appreciate at least a few candles and rose petals.”

She let the comment slide; in fact, she looked a little nervous. “Oh, good, you’re here. I have something to show you.”

“Ohhhhh, no. Not another Christmas eve case. I learned my lesson last year. I’m waiting ‘til New Year’s to surprise you with the piranha-eaten corpse.”

“Where’d you find a piranha-eaten corpse? Those aren’t indigenous to—“

“Figure of speech. What did you have to show me?”

“Oh, right,” she said, pushing back from the desk and standing up. “Follow me.”

&&&

Brennan moved quickly through the darkened halls of the museum. It wasn’t a path she was used to taking, but she knew the way well enough. Four flights of stairs later, she swiped her key card and held the heavy door open for Booth. His tie, she noticed, pictured penguins and polar bears wearing Santa hats. Quite the geographical anomaly.

They were standing in a round windowless room. Brennan headed to the small circular staircase in the center.

“More stairs?” Booth mock-whined.

She made a show of rolling her eyes – something she was ashamed to say she’d picked up from Hodgins. “Just these, no more.”

In the large dome above them was a horizontal slit, about six feet wide, that stretched from the top down to the rim and showed a slice of the clear night sky. Pointed toward the opening was an enormous refracting telescope.

“Ah, I see, it was the forensic anthropologist in the observatory with the dry wit,” Booth quipped, getting to the top of the stairs.

“Hey,” retorted Brennan, “Angela showed me that game, and there’s no observatory, not even a second floor.” She pointed toward the eyepiece of the telescope. “Look.”

“Alright, but if you’ve smeared black ink on the eye-thingy, I’m going to short-sheet your bed.”

“Why would I put— oh, I get it.”

Booth smiled and sat down in the tiny chair behind the telescope. He looked through the eyepiece and blinked, trying to focus on the bright object in the center. “What am I supposed to be— hey, that’s Saturn!”

Brennan tried and failed to suppress a smile at the glee in his voice.

“Wow, that’s really… I mean you see pictures and all, but it’s _Saturn_. And it’s got rings! Actual rings!”

He sounded like a little kid; she chuckled to herself. “Well, I called in a favor with Dr. Byerly and I thought I’d give you a little holiday astronomy lesson.”

“I don’t think I want to know what sort of favor you do an astronomer.” He paused, mouth agape, still fascinated with the planet. “There’s a hole in the rings.”

Her grin grew wider. “The Cassini division. If you look to the bottom right of the rings, you can see one of Saturn’s moons, Titan.”

“There it is!”

Brennan leaned against the railing on the edge of the platform and reveled in her partner’s childlike delight.

&&&

“You gave me a Christmas present!” said Booth, bounding back down the last of the stairs.

“I did no such thing,” Bones protested weakly, “I just thought you might enjoy getting a first-hand look at a celestial object that—“

Booth stepped across the catwalk, spreading his arms on the railing as if addressing throngs of squints below. “Ladies and gentleman, Dr. Temperance Brennan just gave me, Seeley Booth, a Christmas present!”

“Stop that,” muttered Brennan, hiding a deep blush. “There’s nobody else here.”

Booth turned back to her. “Man, makes me wish I’d gotten you something. After all that mess last year, I wasn’t sure it’d be… welcome. But I see I was wrong.”

“Booth, it’s not like I purchased something for you. You know I don’t believe in showing affection through materialistic exchange.”

They were now standing in front of the door of her office. Booth turned to face her and lightly put his hands on her shoulders. “Thank you for the Christmas present, Bones. I’ve never gotten anything like it.”

She fought the urge to look away in embarrassment. “You’re welcome. Merry Christmas.”

He beamed. “Now _there’s_ something I never thought I’d hear. Sorry to run out on you, but I’m meeting Sid in half an hour for some Christmas egg rolls. You want me to walk you out to the parking garage?”

“No, I think I’m going to finish the chapter I was working on. I’ll see you in a few days.”

“See you.” Booth turned and strode down the dark corridor, but called out over his shoulder, “Oh, could you take a quick look at the Johnson case file? I think you’ll find it interesting.”

“Sure,” she replied. “Where did you put it?”

“Second drawer down on the left. G’night!”

Brennan watched him turn to go out the door, then went back into the warm glow of her office. She cleared the screensaver and looked at where she’d left off. It was going to be nearly impossible to get her writing momentum back when the only thing in her mind was Booth’s luminous, grateful smile.

Maybe new facts on a case would help clear her mind. She opened the second drawer on the left and pulled out a thick file folder. As she lifted it, something clattered to the bottom of the drawer – a jewel case. AC/DC’s “Back in Black.” There was a note attached, a torn-off piece from a legal pad. Brennan read it.

 _In case you’re feeling hot-blooded.  
Merry December 25th,  
SB_

Without bothering to switch off the computer, Brennan grabbed her coat and headed for her car.  



End file.
